Hollinger 

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E 850 
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Address by 

W. B. POULSON, 

Camp 8 U. C. V. 

To the 

Chicago Chapter, 

Daughters 
of the Confederacy. 



Chicago, Illinois. 



February Ninth, Nineteen-hundred and Six. 



1^^ 



Madame President, Daughters of the Confederacy, and 
>^ friends: — To say tliat 1 am i)leased to meet you this evening 
will not express what I desire, for I have not the faculty of say- 
ing what I would like as I would wish, and courageous would 
J be to attempt to meet the requirements of this hour. And the 
cordial greeting of so many Southern friends that you have 
given me, reminds me of the traveler who has wandered far 
away into distant climes, and upon his return, and catching the 
first glimpse of his native land, exclaims : 

"Now thou dost welcome me, welcome me, 

From the dark sea, 
Land of the beautiful, beautiful. 
Land of the free." 

You have now, after the scenes of anguish and misery at- 
tending tht greatest conflict of modern times, and the terrible 
humiliating experiences of "Reconstruction," formed yourselves 
into these associations for the purpose of perpetuating as in 
immortal green the memories of the deeds and valors of those 
brave men who were in the service of the Confederacy during 
that memorable period. And now, after the passions and ani- 
mosities that were generated by that unfortunate war have 
passed away and we are again one people, with one country, and 
one destiny, and the past has become a history to guide us in 
the future, we can to-day, without prejudice, raise the curtain 
that separates us from the visions of the past and behold the 
panorama of patriotism that filled the hearts and souls of our 
people and their glorious history. To-day only a few of those 
who were active in those scenes are living, and those few, to- 
gether with the Daughters and Sons of the Confederacy, revere 
and honor the memories of those who have gone before. 

To the uninformed, those who were in the Confederate serv- 
ice were considered enemies of the Government, they not know- 
ing or studying the causes that led up to the separation of friends, 



communities and States ; many thinking that Slavery was the 
direct cause, when it was only an incident; and to-day, it may 
not be amiss to allude to the position we took at that time; but 
to a full history of the causes and facts that led up to the sep- 
aration, you have not now time to listen. The Statesmen and 
leaders of both sections have nearly all passed away, and it is 
not our intent or desire, at this day, to criticise those who dif- 
fered from us. Nevertheless, it is well for all to know that the 
South believed her cause was just, and fought for the principles 
upon which they believed this Government was founded. And 
they believed that those principles were the same that their fore- 
fathers fought for in 1776. and fought for them with the same 
spirit and same hopes, and were filled with the same patriotism 
and love of free government. Most of the great men of the 
South in i860 were liip- Sons of the Revolution. 

The American Revolution of 1776 was fought to establish 
and defend the principle that the mother country should not 
infringe upon the chartered rights of any of the colonies; and 
the great Statesmen and heroes of 1776 established the proper 
internal governments of those Colonies after they became States, 
as separate peoples, and as a whole ; and the f^ozcers of those 
States have always been a vital question to all the people. The 
organization of those governments th(>msclvcs and their powers, 
was the question. 

Prior to i860, the great political contest amongst American 
Statesmen for half a century, as to the interpretation of what 
was the General Government and its position towards the indi- 
vidual States and the citizens of those States, and the relation of 
the States towards each other, led up to, and was one of the 
causes of the war. Whether it was a Centralized, or National 
Government, or, a Confederation of smaller Governments, — a 
conflict between the principles of Centralism and Federalism. 
Thomas Jeflferson, who was one of the strongest advocates of • 
JoknB Eo?]:':;'?' ''^vAv ^.{^ 

Gii lUN JO .'Mm 



emancipation, was opposed to a Centralized Government. Also 
Mr. Clay, Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, and many others 
almost equally prominent, and their opposition to Nationalism 
was not, therefore, from attachment to, or sympathy with, slavery 
whatever, but they were opposed to the jirinciples of Consol- 
idation. 

The Southern Statesmen were not opposed to the Union of 
States as they existed, but they believed the entire powers of the 
General Government were what were delegated to it by the 
vStates only, and that it could assume no other powers ; and they 
were opposed to any interference by the General Government 
with the powers of the States as Governments ; and that the 
States should exercise all powers as Governments that were not 
so delegated. And they also believed that should the General 
Government violate the Constitutional Contract of Union be- 
tween the States, or interfere with their reserved rights, they 
then had power to withdraw from the Confederation, or Union, 
and unite with those that were in unison with them on those prin- 
ciples. They were not disunionists any more than Massachusetts 
or any other New England State. There were no stronger 
Unionists in the country than very many of the Southern States- 
men and people just prior to the war. Mr. Davis and his col- 
league, even after their State had passed the Ordinance of Seces- 
sion, did not desire the State to go out. But they were Union- 
ists under the Constitution, and did not want it to be disturbed, 
but perpetuated. They believed the Sovereignty of the States, in- 
dividually, had never been parted with, and the citizen owed his 
idlegiance and duty to his State first, as Sovereign ; and even 
to this day, should the Federal Government send troops into 
Massachusetts or Illinois to interfere with their rights or powers, 
without request from the State Governments, there would be a 
protest that would be heard all over the land. 



Although the so-called Personal Liberty laws of the North- 
ern States, the circulation of incendiary documents, the John 
Brown raid, and attack upon the U. S. Government arsenal at 
Harper's Ferry, and the unequal tariff laws, were grievances they 
stood heroically, yet they, combined, did not dissolve the love 
and sympathy between the two sections of the Country ; but the 
South believed there was a systematic and persistent struggle 
by the North to deprive the Southern States of equality in the 
Union, and the most popular means by which it could be done 
was through attacks upon the institution of slavery, and by cre- 
ating a prejudice against it, and, if possible, curtail any power the 
South might have through it. New England was a manufactur- 
ing section and wanted the unjust profits of a protective tariff, 
while the South was agricultural and had the burden of the tariff 
to carry, and opposed it with all her power, which power the 
North did not desire the South should have increased in Con- 
gress, which would be the case if their Constitutional rights in 
the Territories were not interfered with, the climate being favor- 
able to slavery in those sections. Thus slavery, )iot as a moral 
question, but as a political force, became an incident in the cause 
of the war, the protective tariff with its unequal and unjust tax 
being one of the direct causes. 

The public being always sentimental and easily influenced, 
and sympathy and passion being easily aroused, they were used 
as the instruments through which selfish ends could be reached. 

Referring to the statement in regard to the belief in the 
right to withdraw from the Union, I call attention to a few inci- 
dents that are pertinent to the question, neither one of which is 
Southern. 

1st. The celebrated "Hartford Convention," in December. 
1814, composed of delegates chosen by the Legislatures of Mas- 
sachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with imperfect rep- 
resentations from New Hampshire and Vermont (Maine not 



then a State), convened for the puriX)se of considering griev- 
ances in connection with ihc war with Great Britain in 1812. The 
chief subject was the seceding of those States (all New Eng- 
land) from the Union. They decided it was not expedient at 
ihat time, but indicated the circumstances in which dissolution of 
the Union might become expedient and manner it could be 
effected. They said, "If the Union be destined to dissolution by 
reason of the multiplied abuses of bad administration it should, 
if possible, be the work of peaceable times, and deliberate consent. 
Some new form of Confederacy should be substituted among the 
States which shall intend to maintain a Federal relation to each 
other. Events may prove that the causes of our calamities are 
deep and permanent. They may be found to proceed, not merely 
from the blindness of prejudice, pride of opinion, violence of 
party spirit, or the confusion of the times, but they may be traced 
to implacable combinations of individuals or States, to monopo- 
lize power and ofifice, and to trample without reserve upon the 
rights and interests of the commercial sections of the Union. 
Whenever it shall appear that the causes are radical and perma- 
nent, a separation by equitable arrangement w\\\ be preferable 
to an alliance by constraint among nominal friends, but real ene- 
mies." 

2nd. The Legislature of Massachusetts in 1844 adopted a 
Resolution declaring that, "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
faithful to the Compact between the people of the United States 
according to the plain meaning and intent in which it was under- 
stood by tKem, is sincerely anxious for its preservation, but that 
it is determined, as it doubts not other States are, to submit to 
undelegated poivers in no body of men on earth," and that, "the 
project of the annexation of Texas unless arrested on the thresh- 
old may tend to drive these states into a dissolution of the 
Union." 



Also, the same Legislature, Feb. ii, 1845, adopted and sent 
to Congress, resolutions on the same subject, in one of which it 
declared, "as the power of legislation granted in the Constitution 
of the U. S. to Congress do not embrace a case of the admission 
of a foreign State or Territory, by legislation into the Union, 
such an act of admission would have 710 binding force ivhatevcr 
on the people of Massachusetts" — meaning, admission of Texas 
would be justifiable ground for Secession. 

3rd. New York and Rhode Island on Ratification of the 
Constitution. "That the powers of Government may be resumed 
by the people whenever it shall become necessary to their happi- 
ness." 

Henry Cabot Lodge, in his life of Alexander Hamilton, 
referring to Aaron Burr, wrote, "To extricate himself from the 
disastrous field of national politics, he sought the governorship 
of New York, behind which was the possibility of a Northern 
Confederacy and Presidency — a phantom evoked by the murmur.s 
of secession now heard among New England leaders. Again 
Hamilton arose and stood in the way of these intrigues, denounc- 
ing the schemes of secession, and so dividing the Federalists of 
New York as to give the election to Lewis, Burr's Democratic 
rival." 

(The Federalists had all the branches of the Government.) 

Same — "Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris, Feb. 
27, 1802: 'Perhaps no man in the United States has sacrificed 
or done more for the present Constitution than myself; and, 
contrary to all anticipations of its fate as you know from the 
very beginning, I am still laboring to prop the frail and worth- 
less fabric' " 

"Hamilton believed the Constitution to be unequal to the 
burden imposed upon it, and he considered the government too 
weak." 

He believed the States had too much power. 



4th. John Ouiiicy Adams, 1827, before the N. Y. Historical 
Society said, "With these qualifications (consciences), we may 
admit the same ri^e^ht as vested in the people of every State in the 
Union, with reference to the General Government which was 
exercised by the people of the United Colonies with reference to 
the Supreme head of the Hritish Eminrc, of which they formed 
a part; and, under these limitations, have the people of each 
State in the Union a right to secede from the Confederated Union 
itself." 

5th. Lincoln — H. Rep.. Jan. 12. 1848: ".Any people, any- 
where, being inclined, and having the power, have the right to 
rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new 
one that suits them better." 

6th. Horace Greeley, N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 9th, i860: "The 
right to secede may be a revolutionary one, but it exists never- 
theless. We must ever resist the asserted right of any State 
tc remain in the Union and nullify or defy the laws thereof ; to 
withdraw from the Union is quite another matter. And when- 
ever a considerable section of our Union shall deliberately re- 
solve to go out, we shall resist all coercive measures designed to 
keep it in." 

7th. The first Confederation of States was for a "Perpetual 
Union," yet it was broken up by 9 States withdrawing arbitrarily. 

The South did not consider the Institution of Slavery was 
divine, but that it was a legal institution, and was upheld by the 
country, even by some of the strongest Anti-Slavery men in both 
the North and South, because it was Constitutional, and so held 
in the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States ; and 
the South believed that the States only could abolish it ; and that 
there was a great and strong eflfort in the North to have it 
abolished by the General Government, irrespective of the Con- 
stitution, and that, too, with the entire loss to the South only, to 



whom it meant bankrupcy and ruin, followed by ignorance, indo- 
lence, crime and anarchy. 

The Southern States were all on the side of the Constitution. 
They had carefully and laboriously deliberated upon all the Arti- 
cles in the Convention, and when it was adopted by the States 
they were satisfied with it and gave it their support, and desired 
and expected every other State should do the same. They never 
invoked any stretch of Federal Power to aid or protect their 
institutions, either in the States or Territories. Their position 
from beginning to end on the Territorial question being iwn- 
intcrvcniion by Congress either for, or against, slavery ; that 
their powers as States and peoples in that respect under the 
Constitution be held sacred. 

The leaders of the North, including Mr. Lincoln and Mr. 
Charles Sumner, strongly expressed their opinions that the 
institution of slavery could not be interfered with. Mr. Lincoln, 
in his inaugural, March 4. 1861, stating — "I have no purpose, 
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery 
in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to 
do so and I have no inclination to do so." Mr. Blaine, alluding 
to the address, said: "He (Lincoln) argued to the South, with 
persuasive power, that the institution of slavery in the States 
was not in danger by his election. He admitted the full obliga- 
tion under the Constitution for the return of fugitive slaves." 
And Charles Sumner, Feb. 25th, 1861, in the Senate, said, "I 
take this occasion to declare, most explicitly, that I do not think 
Congress has any right to interfere with Slavery in a State." 

But the South believed that this position would not be held 
sacred, for most of the Northern States had passed laws in 
direct conflict with the Constitution and Supreme Court decis- 
ions; and that the North, generally, sympathized with John 
Brown in his attack upon the United States Arsenal, and the 
raising of an insurrection amongst the negroes in the 



South, with the purpose to murder their masters, and wives, 
and children ; and deplored his death after his paying the pen- 
alty of the law, and held him ever after as a Martyr; and that 
the North unjustly attacked the Supreme Court decisions when 
not in consonance with their interests, and wilfully disregarded 
them, thus bringing into contempt that high branch of the Gov- 
ernment, composed of honorable and just judges, the Chief Jus- 
tice himself being one of profound learning in the law, great 
attainments, and of the highest character and reputation. 

Mr. Blaine, referring to the Dred Scott decision, aUd espe- 
cially to Chief Justice Taney, said: "Personally upright and 
honorable as the judges were individually known to be, there 
was a conviction in the minds of a majority of the Northern 
people that on all issues affecting the institution of slavery they 
were unable to deliver a just judgment. * * * Chief Justice 
Taney, who delivered the opinion which proved so obnoxious 
throughout the North, was not only a man of great attainments, 
but was singularly pure and upright in his life and conversation. 
Had his personal character been less exalted, or his legal learning 
less eminent, there would have been less surprise and indignation. 
Coming to the Bench from Jackson's Cabinet, fresh from the 
angry controversies of that partisan era, he had proved a most 
acceptable and impartial judge, earning renown and escaping cen- 
sure until he dealt directly with the ((uestion of slavery. What- 
ever harm he may have done in that decision was speedily over- 
ruled by war, and the country can now contemplate a venerable 
jurist, in robes that w^ere never soiled by corruption, leading a 
long life of labor and sacrifice and achieving a fame in his pro- 
fession second only to that of Marshall." "The Dred Scott de- 
cision received "no respect after Mr. Lincoln became president, 
and without reversal by the Court was utterly disregarded." "The 
Chief Justice, although loyal to the Union, was not in sympathy 
with the policy or measures of Mr. Lincoln's administration." 



(Suppose Mr. Roosevelt should disregard the U. S. Supreme 
Court decisions?) 

Thus we see, from such opinions, of such extremely North- 
ern authorities, that the South believed they were justified in the 
position they held, which they thought was correct, and that 
reason would bring the whole people to their views, and bring 
the country back to its former position under the Constitution, 
and prevent separation ; but the masses are easily influenced by 
sentiment, and sentiment swayed the minds of the people in i860 
and 1861, and passion and prejudice supplanted reason, and pre- 
vented the questions of the day from being discussed and under- 
stood. The people were prosperous and happy and it was a great 
misfortune to disturb their condition, but unhoped for events 
took place and hundreds of thousands of lives and enormous 
wealth were sacrificed upon the altar, and among those from the 
South were some of the grandest, bravest, and best men that ever 
lived. President Roosevelt, alluding to the soldiers of the South, 
wrote : "The world has never seen better soldiers than those 
who followed Lee ; and their leader will undoubtedly rank as 
without any exception the very greatest of all the great Captains 
that the English-speaking people have brought forth — and this, 
although the last and chief of his antagonists may claim to stand 
as the full equal of Marlborough and Wellington ;" and Mr. 
Blaine, alluding to the Southern Statesmen and leaders, wrote : 
"Those leaders constituted a remarkable body of men. They 
gave deep study to the science of Government. They were ad- 
mirably trained as debaters, and they became highly skilled in 
the management of parliamentary bodies. As a rule they were 
liberally educated, many of them graduates of Northern Colleges, 
n still larger number taking their degrees at Transylvania, Ky., 
at Chapel Hill, in N. C, and at Mr. Jefferson's peculiar but 
admirable institution in Virginia. Their secluded mode of life 
on the plantation gave them leisure for reading and reflection. 



They took pride in their Ubraries, pursued the law so far as it 
increased their equipment for a pubhc career, and devoted them- 
selves to political affairs with an absorbing ambition. Their do- 
mestic relations imparted manners that were haughty and some- 
times offensive; they were quick to take affront and they not 
infrequently brought needless disputation into the discussion of 
public questions, but they were, almost without exception, men 
of high integrity, and they were especially and jealously careful 
of the public money. Too often ruinously lavish in their personal 
expenditures, they believed in an economical government, and, 
throughout the long period of their denomination, they guarded 
the Treasury with rigid and unceasing vigilance against every 
attempt at extravagance and every form of corruption." 

Only such brave and able men could have performed the re- 
markable deeds, with such results, that they did. 

The Southern States withdrew and formed the Confederacy 
with no preparation whatever for war, for they did not believe 
that coercion and war would be the outcome. They had no armed 
force except the volunteer state military companies in the larger 
cities, armed with old-fashioned muskets, and a few rifles — no 
equipments, and no ammunition. No pretense of a Navy or 
any power apparently to create one. Their Government was only 
a shadow — no money, and no revenue system. Gen. Gorgas, 
Chief of Ordnance, said when he assumed charge he found in all 
the Arsenals only about 15,000 rifles (Mississippi) and about 
120,000 muskets that had been flintlocks — antiquated — which had 
been sent North and changed to percussion, and sent back ; also 
about 60,000 flintlocks at Richmond, \'a. : very little artillery or 
equipments, and no cavalry arms or equipments. Gen. Joseph 
E. Johnston said: "He (Gen. Gorgas) created the Ordnance 
department out of nothing." Not only that, there were but few 
workmen in the South accustomed to work on arms or equip- 
ments; there had been in the South some Northern workmen, 



but over a mile beyond, towards the river — in fact, a large 
part of his Army was on the banks; and, night coming on with 
a deluging rain, the Confederates fell back and occupied Grant's 
camp during the night. Gen. Grant's Army being in a shattered 
condition. Gen. Grant, in his memoirs, alluding to this battle 
said, "There were 4,000 or 5.000 stragglers lying under cover 
of the river bluff, panic stricken." Threatened with shell from 
the gunboats by Buell if they did not go back, — "most of these 
men afterward proved themselves as gallant as any of those who 
saved the battle from which they deserted." Gen. Buell advised 
retreat. — "Hurlbut, Sherman and McClernand's divisions were 
more or less shattered, and depleted in numbers, from the terrible 
battle of the day. The division of W. H. L. Wallace, as iinich 
from the disorder arising from changes of division and brigade 
commanders as from any other cause, had lost its organization, 
and did not occupy a place in the line as a division. Pren- 
tiss' command was gone as a division, many of its members hav- 
ing been killed, wounded, or captured." 

On the /th Gen. Buell, with 20,000 or over, of his Army, 
and Lew Wallace, with 5,000 or over, veterans, and Crittenden's 
and McCook's divisions, came from Savannah, Tenn., a few 
miles away, in transports, Gen. Grant stating, "My Command 
was thus nearly doubled in numbers and efficiency. The advance 
on the morning of the 7th developed the enemy in the camp 
occupied by our troops before the battle began, more than a mile 
back from the most advanced position of the Confederates on 
the day before. It is known now that they had not yet learned 
of the arrival of Buell's command." 

Of course, with this combination of nearly 100.000 men. 
mostly fresh troops, to battle with, the Confederates, on the 7th. 
were forced to retreat to Corinth. 

Unfortunately for the Confederates, Gon. Johnston was 
killed during the afternoon of the 6th. the first dav's battle, or 



he would undoubtedly have continued the attack, but Beauregard, 
who assumed command, was opposed to an advance. Gen. Grant 
says Gen. Beauregard was opposed to an attack in the first 
place. Had Gen. Beauregard continued the attack on the even- 
ing of the 6th, before Grant was so heavily reinforced, there 
would, undoubtecjly, have been an entirely different result, as 
Gen. Grant said his army was mostly shattered and driven over 
a mile from his camp. I allude to this battle as the war had 
been in progress but one year and was a fair sample of the con- 
dition of the Confederate Army throughout the whole South at 
the end of the first year; also throughout the whole war, the 
Northern Army, when they lost men, had a large population to 
draw from to replace them, with the assistance of large bounties 
paid to men to enlist ; but the Southern Army had but about 
one-third of the white population to draw from, and no assistance 
from immigration, thus could be exhausted, especially as the 
U. S. Government refused to exchange prisoners, because it 
would strengthen the Southern Army to three or four times a 
degree than it would the Northern. During the four years, 1861- 
1865, there were enlisted 2,731,519, or about 2,800,000 troops, 
including regulars, all of whom did not enlist through patriot- 
ism, for the U. S. Government paid $285,941,000 as bounties 
with which to buy soldiers, and the different States paid many 
millions for the same purpose, besides the many millions paid to 
substitutes by individuals who were<Jl^rafted and did not feel like 
fighting ; while the Southern Army has been estimated at from 
500,000 to 800,000 during the same time. At the close of the 
war the South surrendered, or paroled. (Blaine) : 

The Army of Virginia under Gen. R. E. Lee 28,356 

The Army of Tennessee under Gen. Jos. E. Johnston 37.047 

The Army of Florida under Gen. Sam. Jones 2.1 13 

The Army of Alabama under Gen. Rich. Taylor 12.723 

The Army of Trans-Mississippi under Gen. E. Kirby Smith 10,167 

The Army of Arkansas under Gen. M. Jeff. Thompson 3.048 

95.454 



"These figures are given as the results of actual count of 
the paroles signed, and have been verified by Officers of both 
Armies." But these lists included all that were on the rolls, 
two-thirds of which were not in the field in most cases. In the 
case of Gen. Le^'s Army, April, 1865, Gen. Lee, in his ofhcial 
report to President Davis, stated : "On the morning of the 
9th, according to the reports of the Ordnance officers, there 
were 7,892 organized infantry with arms. The Artillery, reduced 
to 63 pieces — I have no accurate report of the cavalry, but be- 
lieve it did not exceed 2,100 effective men. The enemy was 
more than five times our numbers. The supplies ordered to 
Pamplin's Station from Lynchburg could not reach us, and the 
men, deprived of food and sleep for many days, were worn out 
and exhausted." 

At the time of his surrender, when requesting rations and 
forage for his men. Gen. Lee remarked that his men were badly 
in need of food, that they had been living for several days on 
parched corn exclusively. 

The remainder above 10,000, who were paroled, were un- 
armed stragglers, and of extra duty and detailed men of every 
description and thousands disabled which greatly swelled the ag- 
gregate present, while adding nothing to the fighting capacity 
of the Army. 

How such badly armed troops could stand up against such 
superior numbers, supplied with all the modern war equipments 
and unlimited supplies, with such remarkable results, seems 
hardly possible. But, when a man is once possessed with gen- 
uine convictions that his cause is just, he will show more fer- 
vency zeal, and courage, than if he did not have them; and I 
believe that the South more firmly believed in the justness of 
ihcir cause than did the North, and their convictions gave them 
a courage and enthusiasm, which gave them such a fighting im- 
pulse and power that they were hard to wrest victories 



from, and which made them so often victorious over better 
equipped and much larger forces, and which prolonged the 
Avar to such extent as was remarkable under tlic circumstances. 
Gen. Barnes' Official Reports, U. S. : 

No. of Union Prisoners in Southern Prisons 270,000 

No. of Union Prisoners xlicd in Southern Prisons (8 per cent) . . 22,576 

No. of Confederate Prisoners in Northern Prisons 220,000 

No. of Confederate Prisoners (hed in Nortlicrn Prisons (12 

per cent ) 26,436 

From the time Gen. Grant took Command of the Army of 
the Potomac until the surrender of Gen. Lee, Gen. Gran{ lost 
more men in killed and wounded than Gen. Lee had in his 
whole Army during the same time. 

It has been supposed by the North that war was declared 
by the willful firing on Ft. Sumter ; but to the South that was 
viewed in an entirely different light, for an assault is not al- 
ways commenced by the one who gives the first blow but by 
the one who provokes the blow. The South was assured, by 
the highest authority, that Ft. Sumter would be evacuated by 
the new Lincoln Administration, for it was entirely remote 
from any desire or hope by the South for bloodshed at all, let 
alone a civil war. They believed that through the subtleness of 
the State Department of the U. S. Government they were pur- 
posely provoked to make the attack, so it could be claimed that 
the South was the aggressor, they having before them the his- 
tory of the provocation of the Mexican War through the same 
means. Grant, in re-Mexican war, says: "The presence of the 
U. S. troops on the edge of the disputed territory furthest from 
the Mexican settlements was not sufficient to provoke hostili- 
ties. We were sent to provoke a fight, but it was essential that 
Mexico should commence it. It was very doubtful whether 
Congress would declare war, but, if Mexico should attack our 
troops, the Executive would announce: 'Whereas, war exists, 
by the acts of,' etc., and prosecute the same with vigor." So. 



too, it seemed to many that the South was tricked through cun- 
ning, and provoked into the overt act of firing upon Ft. Sumter, 
that the onus shoukl fall upon them — called diplomacy. 

It has been stated that the people of the South were op- 
l^osed to secession and that the leader^ needed such an 
act to arouse the people to favor it. It may be true that the 
great majority were not in favor of secession and had 
no desire for, or expectation of it, but preferred that the 
Union should not be disturbed ; nevertheless, they were united 
in the belief that the States had sufficient cause to secede, 
and a right to do so if necessary, and were opposed to 
interference by the General Government by coercion, and 
the call by President Lincoln for troops for that purpose, 
consecrated the whole Southern people to the cause, and united 
them in resistance to the policy. The State of \^irginia would 
not have passed her Ordinance of Secession had it not been 
for this call for troops to coerce her sister States, believing it a 
great usurpation of power, especially when Mr. Greeley, the 
great Republican leader in the North, within six months, in 
the New York Tribune editorially declared he would resist all 
coercive measures to keep these States from withdrawing from 
the Union. 

Another phase of this question may be considered at this 
time, and that is the Southern Slavery question itself, and its 
conditions at the commencement of the w^ar. It must not be 
forgotten that it existed in all the States at the time of the Dec- 
laration, in 1776, and that not a single slave had been brought 
into the Colonies by a Southern man ; and that there would 
have been no United States at all had it not been legalized, and 
protection guaranteed it by the Constitution ; and that it was 
abolished in the North on account of climate, and being un- 
profitable, solely, and not on account of any moral position ; 



that the agitation of the question afler the institution had be- 
come distinctly a Soiitlicni one was because of the jealousv of the 
political power the South might gain by its extension into the 
Territories. 

The Southern people had their fortunes mostly invested in 
the institution, and they conscientiously believed the condition 
of the Negro was better thus, as a zvhole, than before ; that by 
being brought from Africa, where he lived in a heathen state, 
and thrown into the midst of Christianity and civilization was 
not an injury to him, for at the time of the war there were 
none who were not brought under religious influence. In my 
home in Portsmouth, Va., the largest and best church in the 
city was a Negro Methodist Church, the minister of which was 
a prominent white banker of the city, and no others except Negro 
people held service in it, except when the Virginia Metho- 
dist State Conference was once held there. In tlie Portsmouth 
Baptist Church, the largest Baptist Church in the city, the Ne- 
groes used the Baptist Sunday School room, which occupied 
the whole first or basement floor of the church ; so also in the 
Gosport Methodist Church. Also, the largest church in the city 
of Richmond was a Negro Church. Their services in all these 
churches were held in the afternoon on Sundays, and often one 
evening in the week. Of course, many of these people were 
ignorant and superstitious, but ignorance and superstition was 
not confined to the Southern Negro by any means. I saw an 
article in a newspaper where, in Indiana, about five or six years 
ago, a number of masked women went to a certain woman's 
house at midnight, and took her to a nearby thicket, and stripped 
her, and flogged her unmercifully; and what for? Was it be- 
cause she was a notorious thief, or mischief maker, or bad char- 
acter? No, but because she did not baptize her child as they 
wanted her to. 



The Southern people believed they were ver)- much mis- 
lepresented by the preachers and politicians of the North as to 
cruelty to the slaves. The South declared that the so-called 
cruel slave-drivers were but few, and that the lot of the slave, 
as a laborer, was not near as hard as that of the white laborer 
of the North. Go -upon the Northern farms and you will find 
at times they hire extra hands, especially at harvest times, and 
dismiss them afterwards. Go into Northern Michigan and Wis- 
consin during logging tinges, the laborer having work for the 
season only, and of such severity as was never known in the 
South. Go to the iron and coal mines of Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
New York and Michigan, where no human beings in the coun- 
try have a harder lot. Not only that, but in sickness or old age, 
discharged, and thrown upon the world to do the best they can, 
no one to take care of them, — bearing the cruelty of poverty. 

On the other hand, the negro slave in the South worked 
hard during planting and harvesting times, which was a small 
part of the year, and all the rest had but light work, and in the 
winter but little to do ; yet he was not discharged when work 
was light, nor when he was sick or unable to work. When the 
planter purchased food and raiment for his labor it was for the 
whole year, and not for the planting and harvest times only. 
From what I have been able to learn I do not believe there were 
then, or have been since, any class of labor in the whole country 
that. did so little ^ and had such an easy and comfortable time, as 
the negro slave of the Southern States. Of course there were 
some who were lazy — born so — and had to be driven to work, 
but laziness was not confined to them ; it is a great misfortune 
that there is not some way by which some men in this part of 
the coimtry cannot be driven to work, instead of making their 
living robbing people on the streets, and plundering their homes, 
day and night. Compare the effectiveness of the Negro in the 
South 1858-9, and now. In 1858 there were 4,000,000 negroes 



in the South and there were produced 3,100,000 bales of cotton; 
now there are 8,000,000 negroes in the South and they produce 
12,000,000 bales, besides other products, and other occupations 
than then ; in fact, the negro laborer in the South works twice 
as hard nozv than before the war, and is compelled to support 
himself at all times. Since 1865 there has been no master to 
guarantee him comfort during his whole life, during sickness 
and old age. And was the slave dissatisfied with his condition ? 
With some exceptions, no. His fidelity towards his master was 
never better illustrated than in the fact that, although President 
Lincoln's Proclamation had been in effect ever since Jan. i, 1863, 
and their masters being away from home in the service, and 
agents amongst them to persuade them to leave their homes, 
yet they refused to take advantage of the conditions until the 
war was over, and there was no choice. But after the novelty 
of the situation had passed away, and the severe necessities for 
existence came upon them with power, many have been the days 
when he has longed to have the old times back again. 

The Institution, however, was destined to cease, for the 
march of progress has been so rapid throughout the Christian 
world during the past half century that its influence and the 
stigma of bondman would, probably, have caused its end ; and I 
believe that if reason had taken the place of passion the war, 
with its attending miseries, would not have occurred, and slavery 
would have ceased to exist before this time, for the Southern 
States were the first to abolish the slave trade itself, Georgia 
being the first to incorporate such a prohibition in her organic 
Constitution; and about 1830 it was proposed and debated in the 
X^irginia Legislature to abolish slavery itself, and it was defeated 
by but one vote, and that on account of expediency. But where 
the institution had come by heredity, and law, and custom, and 
much of their material wealth was in it, they were slow to feel 
that the whole loss of that wealth should be placed upon them 



only, for the anti-slavery peoi)le of the North did not propose 
to contribute towards the i)urchase of the slave to emancipate 
him. When the North owned him they kept him in bondage 
until it was not profitable to own him longer; then thev sold 
him to their Southern neighbors; and when it would be no los^ 
to them they agitated his freedom ; and when he got his freedom 
they used his vote for their personal aggrandizement. 

To-day we hold no prejudices or animosities towards those 
brave soldiers of the Union Army who are now living and who 
were then against us, for there were many of the bravest men 
that ever lived in the Union Army during that war, fighting for 
[Jicir principles, and they were not responsible for those events; 
and we are glad that again we have all come together as one 
people, of one great country, and sincerely hope that nothing will 
ever arise to disturb the peace and happiness of any portion of 
the people of this land, or to prevent every able-bodied man of 
this country from standing shoulder to shoulder in the common 
defense of the honor of this whole country against a common 
foe, which guarantees victory. 

There is nothing that can destroy the memories of the past, 
and each one of us has our remembrance of scenes and events 
that occurred in those days that will never be forgotten, and 
which have endeared the South to ns, outside the bond of sym- 
pathy caused by the war. I remember of, to me the first rebel- 
lion. It was when I was about 3 or 4 years old, and my mother, 
whose name was Martha, was going to correct me for confiscat- 
ing a couple of cakes, of which there was a plateful, that had 
just been baked for company at supper, and placed in the pantry. 
I skipped away to colored "Mammy", as a place of refuge, and 
told her "Mummer" was going to beat me for eating the cakes ; 
and when Mummer came after me. Mammy said. "Miss Marthy" 
— Mammy always called my mother Miss Marthy — "Miss 
Marthy, you ain't gwine to beat my chile fo' eatin' cakes he kin 



reach," and, of course, Muiiiiiwr straightened up in all dignity, 
said she would see who was at the head of the house and whether 
she could correct her own child or not. There was a long argu- 
ment, but I did not get the beating ; and Mammy made me stay 
in her presence until supper; Mammy always dressed me for 
supper. Of course, the affair was reported to "Popper" when 
he came home to supper, and he took the case up with Mamtiiy. 
who said, "Marse George, you don't s'pose I'se gwine to let my 
chile be beat fo' eatin' cakes, do you? Why didn't Miss Marthy 
put the cakes so the chile couldn't see 'em? 'Twa'nt his fault." 
Well, Mammy won the victory, and I was saved, and went to 
supper feeling lovely. And I remember that after supper, when 
I was put to bed, which was in the room next to the sitting- 
r.iom, I could faintly hear Mummer tell about it, and Popper 
laughed, and thought it was funny. And that rebellion was one, 
in the South, I have never forgotten. That was not the only 
liiiie Mainmy saved me. She and Miss Marthy had many alter- 
cations over dis chile, for whenever d\s ehilo had trouble in the 
house he made a bee line for Mammy. 

When I had grown older and went to school I was like 
other boys in our neighborhood ; not many of us but owned one 
or more coon dogs, and seldom was our yard without two or 
three coons or possums, tied up, and frequently on Saturdays 
we would take a gun and the dogs and be gone all day in the 
woods. One Saturday morning this same Mammy said, "See 
if you can't ketch a possum for yo' Mammy; Cousin Tom is 
comin' over to-morrer, and I want him to see how I can cook 
a possum.'" We scoured the woods all day, but couldn't catch 
a possum, but when we got home I swapped a coon for a pos- 
sum with one of the boys, and Mammy got her possum and was 
happy. 

You may talk about your Northern millionaires and their 
sordid love and worship of money, and their ways and habits: 



nnd the struggle among rich women to outvie each other in ex- 
travagance and vulgar display, but one had more enjoyment, 
happiness and contentment in the South, before the War, with 
a modest fortune of $30,000 or $40,000, than all the rest of 
mankind combined. 

And now let us again raise the veil of the past, just for a 
moment, and call to mind those illustrious men of the South, 
with giant intellects, gentlemen by inheritance, of the highest 
'standard of honor, whose brilliancy of reputation and public 
deeds will not be effaced by time, whose exuberance of spirit 
and attractiveness of manner have been proverbial. And to the 
glorious women of the South, whom honorable men loved to 
honor, whose heroism during the deprivations of four long 
years of terrible, cruel war, kept up the spirits and courage of 
their loved ones in the camp and battlefield, and with such 
bravery as was unknown and unequaled in all ages gone before, 
and whose fortitude and devotion during the dark, gloomy agon- 
izing years of "Reconstruction" made them grandly sublime. And 
let us take one long, lingering look through the sunny South, 
far, far away; from Maryland, my Maryland ; away down 
through the tobacco fields of "Ole Virginny" and "Kaintuck" ; 
"away down upon the Suwanee river" ; away down through 
the cotton, the cane, and the rice fields ; away down where the 
laurel, the magnolia, the jasmine, the palmetto and the orange 
grow ; away down through the haunts of the redbird, the blue- 
jay, and the mocking bird. And let us take a glimpse of May 
Day, when the pretty queen is being crowned ; and listen to the 
distant sounds of the fiddle, the tambourine, the lx)nes, and the 
banjo, and the shuffling of dancing feet in the twilight and the 
moonlight; and to the sweet songs of the South sung by a 
happy people ; away, away down South, in the land where we 

•' * * * was born in. 
Early on a Sunday mornin', 
Awav, awav, awav down south in Dixie." 



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